BackgroundJanáček earned a living as a music teacher for many years before his compositions were recognised, and he only achieved success at a late stage in his career. The sixth of Janáček’s nine operas, Katya is arguably the most conventional of his mature works. It achieved international success quite quickly and found acceptance more easily than his other operas, which became popular only in the last quarter of the 20th century.

Plot SummaryThe location is a small Russian town on the banks of the river Volga. Mid-19th century.Katya is unhappily married to Tichon, living in a household dominated by her mother-in-law, (known as Kabanicha).Boris is financially dependent on his uncle, and is visiting from Moscow to persuade him to be more generous to him and his sister.Tichon is sent away for a few days on business, and this gives Boris an opportunity to seduce Katya.This fraught relationship is contrasted with the happy affair between Varvara and Váňa, who by the end of the opera decide to run away to live in Moscow.The tragic climax is reached after Tichon’s return, during a violent storm on the riverbank. Katya, driven to madness by her sense of guilt, confesses all, throws herself into the river, and drowns. Tichon blames his mother for driving her to it, while Kabanicha stoically gives formal thanks to her neighbours for their help.

The notable feature of this recording is that it is sung in English, largely in the Norman Tucker translation that has featured regularly in performances by most of the British companies. All the singers project those words clearly and the drama comes across strongly. The Orchestra of Welsh National Opera have been playing Janáček regularly for over thirty years and have complete familiarity with the style.

This is the mould-breaking recording that began the series of five of the great Janacek operas made by Mackerras with the Vienna Philharmonic. He had worked on the opera regularly since his studies in Prague after the war, and conducted the British premiere in 1951. Here he makes notable changes to the traditional version, adding interlude music previously ignored and restoring the composer’s orchestration. Soderstrom sang Katya all over the world, including with Welsh National Opera, and she learned the role in a number of languages. Her performance is superbly detailed. The rest of the cast of native Czech speakers are just as good. The Vienna Philharmonic were not previously associated with Janacek’s music, but still sound wonderful, with an unusual lushness to the sound.

This recording was for many years the only one available. The edition of the score by Vaclav Talich was traditionally used before Mackerras made his adjustments which have now become standard practice. In spite of this the performance is well worth hearing. For its age, the recording still sounds vivid. Beno Blachut was the leading Czech tenor in the post-war years, and he and many of the singers came with Krombholc to the 1964 Edinburgh Festival, including Katya in their repertoire.

One of a trilogy of Janacek classics directed by Lehnhoff for Glyndebourne, this gives a dramatic staging, consistently well played and sung. It is particularly memorable for the startlingly unusual expressionist set designs by Tobias Hoheisel, dominated by bright shades, in a work which usually looks rather dull.